What $950,000 Buys You in New York, New Jersey and California – The New York Times

Accord, N.Y. | $950,000A 1994 wood-sided house with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, on a 3.6-acre lot

This home is privately situated, about five miles northwest of the hamlet of Accord in Ulster County, a wooded, mountainous area with many acres of preserved land. Some of the larger nearby communities are Kingston, about 20 miles northeast, and New Paltz, about 16 miles southeast. The drive to New York City is about two hours in light traffic.

Size: 1,452 square feet

Price per square foot: $654

Indoors: The seller is an interior designer who made extensive improvements inside and out, including the addition of a large, screened porch. He also painted the house black.

Turning left from a small entrance hallway, you enter a living-and-dining room with pine floorboards, oiled-cedar ceiling planks and a wood-burning fireplace with a blackened-steel surround. The separate kitchen contains black cabinets and black honeycomb-shaped wall tile. The countertop material, Dekton, is a composite of quartz, porcelain and glass. The appliances include a Fisher & Paykel wall oven and cooktop, a Liebherr refrigerator and a Faber hood.

A bedroom wing to the right of the entrance includes a powder room with grasscloth-covered walls and a floating sink. Two guest rooms lie beyond, one with double closets and overhead storage, and the other with a tall, black-painted wainscot and an en suite bathroom with a walk-in shower faced in black-stone tile.

The second floor is taken up by the primary suite, beginning with a study area that overlooks the living room. The bedroom contains a pair of closets built under the slanted wood ceiling. The bathroom has a walk-in, black-tile shower and a vessel sink set on a slatted-wood pedestal.

Outdoor space: One set of sliding-glass doors opens from the living room to the screened porch. Another leads to a terraced side deck that steps down to a lawn. A stone retaining wall in front of the house surrounds a garden.

Taxes: $8,244 (2020, based on a tax assessment of $347,800, without an exemption for use as a primary property)

Contact: Jeff Serouya, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Hudson Valley Properties, 845-626-5000; jeffserouya.bhhshudsonvalley.com

This property consists of a small house and garden tucked behind a former commercial building with a gable. It is set among the historic houses and antiques shops of this quaint Delaware River city, steps from popular restaurants like Antons at the Swan, and a block from the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail. East Bridge Street, which connects Lambertville to New Hope, Pa., across the river, is two blocks north. The area flooded during Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, and the home requires flood insurance for a mortgage.

Size: 2,559 square feet (total for both buildings)

Price per square foot: $371

Indoors: The current owners added a second bathroom to the main house and a whole-house generator that covers both buildings. The main house interior is freshly painted.

A brick path in a sheltered garden leads to the houses entrance porch, under a pergola. Inside is a foyer with hardwood floors. The room to the right has a fireplace with a sculptural chimney that rises to the angular ceiling. Light enters from large garden-facing windows.

The open kitchen is arranged along the rear wall of this room and includes contrasting wood-toned cabinetry and a tiled floor and backsplashes. A built-in glass-fronted cupboard is next to the low partition that separates the kitchen from the dining area. Open bookshelves occupy a niche on another wall.

A main-floor bedroom has wood floors and a canted ceiling with a skylight. The accompanying bathroom includes penny-round floor tiles, a glass-walled shower and a console sink.

A staircase curves from the foyer to the second floor, where there is a lofted area over the living room with a wall of custom cabinets that could be used as a second bedroom. A dressing area connects this space to the recently installed bathroom, which has a soaking tub and more custom storage built to fill its idiosyncratically shaped space.

Whereas the house is all nooks and crannies, the street-facing studio building is a single, open room with a concrete floor, cathedral ceiling with skylights and exposed metal posts and beams. Square sash windows line a mirrored wall (the building was formerly a dance studio). The open kitchen has white cabinets with granite countertops.

Outdoor space: The garden between the buildings includes perennials, specimen trees, brick paving and a fountain. Off-street parking is behind the mahogany wall next to the studio.

Taxes: $12,955 (2020, based on a tax assessment of $583,300)

Contact: Stefan Dahlmark or Thomas Hora, Kurfiss Sothebys International Realty, 267-474-0204; new.sothebysrealty.com

A couple renovated the wifes midcentury childhood home in the San Gabriel Valley to create an energy-efficient house that filters pollutants (including smoke and ash from local fires) and maintains power through rolling blackouts. The house consumes no fossil fuel (the owners disconnected their gas line) and produces enough electricity through its rooftop solar array to sell the power back to the grid.

Temple City is a community with about 36,000 residents, highly respected schools and a reputation for safety. This property is about 12 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, eight miles southeast of Pasadena and a couple of blocks west of Rosemead Boulevard, a north-south road lined with businesses.

Size: 1,400 square feet

Price per square foot: $671

Indoors: Ten inches of insulation were added to the ceiling and four inches to the walls to improve energy efficiency. (The windows are also now double-paned, and the fireplace has been removed.) Heating and cooling are provided (when needed, which isnt often) by a mini-split system that replaced the gas furnace.

The entrance takes you into a living-and-dining room with hardwood floors and a vaulted ceiling made from reclaimed wood. Sliding-glass doors on two walls bring in light and give access to the backyard. A ladder rises to a little play loft built over the foyer. The kitchen, which flows into the living room, includes Shaker-style cabinets with quartz counters, Marmoleum flooring and stainless-steel appliances, including an induction stove.

The bedroom wing is to the right of the front door. It includes a primary suite whose bathroom contains a closet and a walk-in shower, and two childrens or guest rooms that share a second bathroom with a combined tub and shower. All toilets, shower heads and faucets are designed to save water.

Outdoor space: There is no lawn. The landscaping, including a vegetable garden, is drought tolerant. The two-car garage includes an electric washer and dryer and an electric vehicle charger.

Taxes: $11,045 (estimated)

Contact: Izumi Tanaka, eXp Realty, 310-749-9091; 5508harkeravenue.com

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What $950,000 Buys You in New York, New Jersey and California - The New York Times